(no subject)
Motorist gets life in fatal accident
Crash involving drunk driving killed man, teen
BY KEYONNA SUMMERS • FLORIDA TODAY • April 29, 2008
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For the past two years, John Michael Dale said he has thought each day about the 2006 drunk-driving accident that left a man and a teen dead.
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A judge on Monday ordered Dale to spend the rest of his life in prison, ensuring he will never forget.
"I have no excuse for my lack of judgment that evening," said Dale, who pleaded guilty last month to two counts of DUI manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 12, 2006, deaths of Guy Etheridge, 43, of Merritt Island, and 13-year-old Samantha Leveille, a friend of Etheridge's daughter.
"I have no one to blame but myself for my actions," he said.
Dale, who remained stoic even as photos of the victims were placed before him on the defense table but did cry when his son and mother testified on his behalf, asked the families to forgive him.
Police said Dale, 35, was rounding a curve on Banana River Drive on Merritt Island at 8:30 p.m. when he crossed the center lane and crashed his 1996 Ford F-250 into the 1999 GMC Denali driven by Etheridge, sending it into a canal. Etheridge's wife and daughter survived the crash.
Etheridge and Leveille drowned as they hung suspended upside down in their seat belts, according to courtroom testimony.
Dale fled on foot and was later found by police in bed at his Merritt Island home. A blood draw revealed a blood-
alcohol level of 0.26, more than three times the legal limit.
In arguing for a sentence other than life, Dale's family said he was a caring and helpful husband and father. Attorney Kevin Mawn argued that stress, including his wife's medical problems, led him to drink at the time.
Dale said the accident "just kind of happened."
The victims' relatives testified in favor of the maximum sentence.
"Guy and Sam didn't have a chance and Mr. Dale has had too many," said Etheridge's widow, Karen Etheridge. "With every chance that was given he made another bad choice."
They broke into applause as Dale was sentenced to life, capping three hours of sometimes angry, sometimes tearful testimony by both families, who packed the courtroom for a decision that Judge David Dugan repeated several times "wasn't easy."
Three families -- the victims' and Dale's -- all lost loved ones, Dugan said.
There was testimony from Etheridge's daughter, whose father won't see her graduate next month, Dale's adopted son who's losing the only father he knew, and a host of other people left with a void in their lives.
But Dale's criminal history, which includes two prior DUI arrests that prosecutors said were reduced to reckless driving because Dale refused breath tests, leaving them without sufficient evidence for trial, was of "very significant concern," Dugan said.
Dale would have faced a maximum 45 years in prison, attorneys said, had it not been for his prior offenses.
Then, there was testimony that several friends and the owner of a bar where Dale was drinking just before the crash begged him not to drive.
After the sentencing, prosecutor Rob Parker paused as he reflected on Samantha Leveille, who would have turned 15 this on Monday, and Guy Etheridge, a NASA engineer and church volunteer whose funeral drew thousands.
"Ultimately, nobody won on this," he said.
Crash involving drunk driving killed man, teen
BY KEYONNA SUMMERS • FLORIDA TODAY • April 29, 2008
**********************************************************************
For the past two years, John Michael Dale said he has thought each day about the 2006 drunk-driving accident that left a man and a teen dead.
Advertisement
A judge on Monday ordered Dale to spend the rest of his life in prison, ensuring he will never forget.
"I have no excuse for my lack of judgment that evening," said Dale, who pleaded guilty last month to two counts of DUI manslaughter in connection with the Aug. 12, 2006, deaths of Guy Etheridge, 43, of Merritt Island, and 13-year-old Samantha Leveille, a friend of Etheridge's daughter.
"I have no one to blame but myself for my actions," he said.
Dale, who remained stoic even as photos of the victims were placed before him on the defense table but did cry when his son and mother testified on his behalf, asked the families to forgive him.
Police said Dale, 35, was rounding a curve on Banana River Drive on Merritt Island at 8:30 p.m. when he crossed the center lane and crashed his 1996 Ford F-250 into the 1999 GMC Denali driven by Etheridge, sending it into a canal. Etheridge's wife and daughter survived the crash.
Etheridge and Leveille drowned as they hung suspended upside down in their seat belts, according to courtroom testimony.
Dale fled on foot and was later found by police in bed at his Merritt Island home. A blood draw revealed a blood-
alcohol level of 0.26, more than three times the legal limit.
In arguing for a sentence other than life, Dale's family said he was a caring and helpful husband and father. Attorney Kevin Mawn argued that stress, including his wife's medical problems, led him to drink at the time.
Dale said the accident "just kind of happened."
The victims' relatives testified in favor of the maximum sentence.
"Guy and Sam didn't have a chance and Mr. Dale has had too many," said Etheridge's widow, Karen Etheridge. "With every chance that was given he made another bad choice."
They broke into applause as Dale was sentenced to life, capping three hours of sometimes angry, sometimes tearful testimony by both families, who packed the courtroom for a decision that Judge David Dugan repeated several times "wasn't easy."
Three families -- the victims' and Dale's -- all lost loved ones, Dugan said.
There was testimony from Etheridge's daughter, whose father won't see her graduate next month, Dale's adopted son who's losing the only father he knew, and a host of other people left with a void in their lives.
But Dale's criminal history, which includes two prior DUI arrests that prosecutors said were reduced to reckless driving because Dale refused breath tests, leaving them without sufficient evidence for trial, was of "very significant concern," Dugan said.
Dale would have faced a maximum 45 years in prison, attorneys said, had it not been for his prior offenses.
Then, there was testimony that several friends and the owner of a bar where Dale was drinking just before the crash begged him not to drive.
After the sentencing, prosecutor Rob Parker paused as he reflected on Samantha Leveille, who would have turned 15 this on Monday, and Guy Etheridge, a NASA engineer and church volunteer whose funeral drew thousands.
"Ultimately, nobody won on this," he said.